Crime & Safety

New Squad Takes on Low-Priority Contra Costa County Fire Calls

The two-firefighter squad will aim to help the financially embattled fire district better distribute its trimmed-down staff.

By Bay City News Service

The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District is launching a two-firefighter squad to respond to low-level medical calls, freeing up firefighters and engines for more serious incidents and fires, district officials said.

The two-firefighter squad will launch Friday morning under a 90-day pilot program meant to help the financially embattled fire district better distribute its trimmed-down staff, fire officials said.

Budget cuts over the past two years have caused the district to close five fire stations and shed about 20 firefighters, said Vince Wells, president of the United Professional Firefighters of Contra Costa County.

"It's going to be a while before we're able to start reopening stations and re-staffing the fire district, so our biggest concern is the fact that we don't have enough firefighters on duty per day," Wells said.

The pilot program, approved by the county Board of Supervisors in July, aims to help fill those gaps, he said. As part of the program two firefighters, including one paramedic, will respond to non-life-threatening medical calls that would normally require an engine and a three-person company.

The two firefighters and an SUV will be strategically stationed at Fire Station 1, at 1330 Civic Drive in Walnut Creek, located between two fire stations that closed in January due to budget cuts, at 700 Hawthorne Drive in Walnut Creek and 4007 Los Arabis Drive in Lafayette, fire officials said.

The squad will respond mainly to calls in Walnut Creek and bordering communities, but can also assist crews at a fire or other major incident in the area, fire officials said.

As part of the program, a firefighter previously stationed at the Civic Center Drive station will staff Station 6 at 2210 Willow Pass Road in Concord, which is the district's busiest outpost, Wells said.

Wells said the district is using overtime hours to backfill the new positions rather than hiring new firefighters.

Fire officials and the Board of Supervisors will evaluate its progress over the next three months before deciding whether to keep the squad running.

The program's 90-day trial comes during one of the busiest times of year for fires in the Bay Area as temperatures stay high and dry vegetation abounds, according to Fire Marshal Lewis Broschard.

Broschard said the fire district recently applied for a federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER, grant. If awarded, the two-year grant would allow the district to hire more than 20 firefighters and to reopen multiple stations, he said.

Fire officials say the district's budget woes started when the Great Recession hit and have been fueled by falling property tax assessments -- the district's main revenue source -- coupled with rising operational and personnel costs.

Copyright © 2013 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.


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